Since his star-making turn working with Bradley Ogden at Arterra and the opening of his critically acclaimed Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar, Schroeder has been revered for his sophisticated seasonal fare.

If my first two meals at his new budget gourmet outpost are any indication, he’ll soon be crowned San Diego’s king of casual comfort food.

Though deviled eggs, duck confit and shortribs make an appearance, the menu reads like a junk food junkie’s dream, with a burger, tacos, BLT, fish and chips and (really?) potato chips as an appetizer.

But look closer, and dig in. This is refined casual. Nothing tastes ordinary. Those chips, for example, are homemade lemon potato chips, crispy, zesty wafers waiting to be dunked in a creamy herbed buttermilk dip.

That burger, juicy and perfectly cooked, served on a brioche bun with aged white cheddar and addictive shoestring fries, was one of the best upscale burgers I’ve had.

The Caesar salad is toothsome and tangy. I loved the crispy taco shells with the barbecue braised pork tacos (think oversized El Indio tortilla chips) but my friend thought they were overseasoned. We both wanted more of the lime sour cream topping.

Creamy butterscotch pudding with caramel sauce and almond lemon bread pudding with roasted strawberries will sate even the sweetest tooth.

The wine list is interestingly diverse and well priced. Beer fans will love the extensive selection. Service is friendly and skilled. And the dining room, all rustic wood with minimal décor, has been opened up and is airier than it had been when the space was occupied by Modus.

Schroeder’s longtime partner, Terryl Gavre, helps keep the front of the house humming. But it’s the back of the house that makes Bankers Hill an instant classic.

• When a friend told me people were raving that Bencotto was serving “the best Italian food in San Diego,” I thought it was too good to be true. Could there finally be an exciting and authentic Italian restaurant in tourist-friendly Little Italy?

Yes and no.

Yes, Bencotto is a beautifully designed, sleekly modern space, and its menu reads authentic. And no. While the restaurant is a nice addition to the neighborhood, it’s not a Little Italy game changer yet. The food is too inconsistent.

Polpette Bencotto are delicious, moist little meatball appetizers but they needed a better-tasting sugo than what came with them. Called a “spicy tomato sauce dip,” it stirred up memories of what used to be served with fried mozzarella sticks. Sweet onion Cipolline al Balsamico were drowning in vinegar and almost too acidic to eat.

Pastas are decent and most are only $12, but the way you order them — a modo tuo or “your way,” pick the sauce then the pasta type — feels straight out of a budget chain. Italian chefs are very particular about pairing the sauce with the correctly textured pasta. For a reason.

Semifreddo with almonds and amaretto cookies was just a semi-satisfying meal ender.

Bencotto already sells its own line of pasta, olives and balsamic vinegar, all emblazoned with the restaurant’s stylish logo. A little less focus on the branding and more on developing the kitchen’s consistency would go a long way in making this a Little Italy standout.

SECOND BITE

Executive Chef Walter Manikowski just celebrated his one-year anniversary at Currant, and under him and G.M. Chris Cooke, this sexy, sophisticated Parisian-inspired restaurant is only getting better.

When I first reviewed Currant in February 2008 — under opening chef and co-owner Jonathan Pflueger — I gave it three stars for polished food, super service and a cosmopolitan feel.

Several recent meals there have left me swooning.

At one in particular — to mark a monumental birthday of mine — eight of us were happily ensconced in the intimate confines of the semiprivate dining room. From the superlative 14 dishes sent out of Manikowski’s kitchen (including moules frites with thyme fries, a cheese and charcuterie plate, lamb Bolognese, duck confit linguine), to the server who anticipated our every need to the ridiculously reasonable $10 corkage fee, Currant was all the gift I needed.

CORONADO CONUNDRUM

The Hotel Del’s ENO wine bar is holding a series of “ENO-Versity” events featuring premier wines paired with four-course dinners at 1500 Ocean.

In April, Coronado native Rob Perkins took a break from his sommelier job at San Francisco’s noted Boulevard restaurant to present his Skylark wines, which he produces with fellow sommelier John Lancaster. The tasting at ENO included a terrific pinot blanc and the delicious Red Belly and Les Aves red blends.

For dinner, Chef de Cuisine Brian Sinnott creatively matched the grenache rosé with sublime hiramasa and steelhead crudo with citrus, addictive duck confit risotto with lusty grenache and a perfect pork duo of tenderloin and braised belly with a smoky syrah.

Up next on ENO wine director Ted Glennon’s roster: The always impressive wines of Paso Robles’ Tablas Creek on June 12.

• Over at Loews Coronado Bay, Mistral Chef de Cuisine Patrick Ponsaty (formerly of Bernard’O, La Bastide and El Bizcocho) is turning out Mediterranean-inspired fare so sumptuous you won’t even look up from your plate to take in the restaurant’s stunning view.

Start your night at the bar, where you can enjoy a Lowe’s signature cocktail (mmm, Lavender Drop) with one of the 17 small plates offered. Don’t miss the Garbanzo Panisse, crispy yet delicate fried triangles with a saffron aioli, or the black truffle ricotta crostini with fennel.

That marvelous black truffle ricotta makes another appearance on the dinner menu in the form of cannelloni served with fresh-from-the-sea steamed Santa Barbara blue prawns. But everything my foodie friend and I tried one night — from the ahi tartare to the grilled lamb chops with eggplant caviar to the seductive vanilla rose crème brûlée — was stellar.

Working for a second time with mentor Marc Ehrler, Loews’ corporate chef, Ponsaty is taking this under-the-radar restaurant to new heights.